Paju Old US Military Base 'Camp Greaves' to Expand Opening from October

Exterior view of the Camp Greaves exhibition hall located within the former U.S. military base in Paju, Gyeonggi-do

The former U.S. military base 'Camp Greaves' located within the civilian control zone (DMZ) in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, will be expanded and opened to the public this October. Camp Greaves is a U.S. military return site where the U.S. forces were stationed from the armistice agreement in 1953 until 2004.

Since 2013, Gyeonggi Province has been operating a military experience facility (DMZ Experience Center) at Camp Greaves through an agreement with the Ministry of National Defense. Since 2022, ownership of Camp Greaves was transferred from the Ministry of National Defense to Gyeonggi Province, which also operates the exhibition hall 'Gallery Greaves' (2,760㎡).

Starting this October, Gyeonggi Province plans to expand the open facilities at Camp Greaves accessible via the Imjingak gondola to include 10 exhibition buildings such as the ammunition depot. This expansion will open 39,000㎡ (33%) of the total site area of 118,395㎡ to tourists.

Currently, only 2% of the total site area is open to the public. To facilitate this, Gyeonggi Province is preparing infrastructure construction such as installing water supply facilities, sewage treatment facilities, and water and sewage pipelines, as well as convenience facilities and operational programs.

Accordingly, ▲ the ammunition depot will be used as a media art and installation art exhibition space, ▲ the company office and non-commissioned officers' quarters will serve as exhibition spaces related to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, and ▲ the company headquarters office will be utilized as a recreated exhibition space depicting the offices of military officers at the time.

The equipment room and restrooms will be exhibition and experience spaces related to the history of the Korean War and the U.S. military in Korea, and the space formerly used by the U.S. military as a vehicle maintenance garage will be used as a rest area. Additionally, ticket booths, information centers, and public restrooms will be installed for the convenience of tourists after opening.

The existing Gallery Greaves, remodeled from a former U.S. military bowling alley, is set up as a special exhibition space commemorating the 70th anniversary of the armistice, displaying stories of student soldiers and the armistice agreement. In 2023, 490,000 tourists visited Gallery Greaves via the Paju Imjingak Peace Gondola to view the space exhibiting a part of the Korean War and the armistice agreement.

Camp Greaves, which accumulated U.S. military architectural styles from the 1950s to the 1990s, is undergoing remodeling where the exterior of the buildings is preserved as it was in the past, while only the interior spaces are updated with modern facilities.